Single-row scour prevention fence



Aug. 7, 1945. T. M. JOYCE EIAL ,2

7 SINGLE ROW SCOUR PREVENTION FENCE I Filed Oct. 31,1941

I Eligi- THOMAS M. (/0 YCE P/PASTON L. F/ TE g i'torney Patented Aug. 7, 1945.

1 meme w sfdom ER YE e Thomas-M. Joyce, Salinas;and Pi eston LiFite.--

sacramentoycalifl; said ThomasM. Joyce,- deceased, assignor by decree :of to :Teresa.

stream eros on, and part cularly to. asmgle row our prevention fence which may. .be'f'arran ed i 'niipiieaub o toberjs1, 1e4 1 ',:se I g 3Claims. (01.76 413) I: P Y ention relates, means for controlling the of I I I strean jcontrol; simplifying the structur'al"elementsrequired to controla stream'. eliminating thexnecessity for building L to cause'sedimentarydeposits in ;desired areas. solid (as or re'vetments' to' protect Control of the erosive actionpf running'f water 5 j strea a n' general providing, stream is of prime importance along streambanks high .yays, bridge approaches; and simila ocations. Flodqgaotion causesunliniited damage to erable lands and toother property in its path. Protection from such dangerghas'been largely 'a'ccom p lished; through fsettingup ,of bulkheadsjdikes .,;,an the likeljwhich substantially'Qprevent the 9. w erime eml e nie wi the $513 .3 to saved- ,s phmew h vebe v r concerned with ,..t e r .w i efi ni' Set u fraction of the; ,cost of previous types,

i h 1 1 Qhlyj r n the i r- More specifically,.our invention lies in the use a single row' scour prevention fence which is "a aptablej to var'ying conditionsof stream. flow;

and; ,amounts of material carried msuspension,

ran which can be. setlup to'.inducefsedimentation where. necessary. .It is ;especially suited fto use along streams of, the type prevalent, in the w siemst te rw h may be ry bsta t a w I ,lysm in the summer, and carry a maximum volume e wa ruri we winter h ill st ate mboe me1. ts maywbe u e in n u ei n w of .the" {standard installation now in use,

expensive, and open to numerals practical. ob-

. maximum efiect offlour invention to; any particular situation. All suchchangesf. r'our mvenu, .Th' l l der'stQOd .byrference to the drawing, in which:

1" ontroll'means tjasubstantially lower cost than Lhas hithljto be n possible: i

These and'etherI pjects'WiII be apparent to .1 fihd f l k le' 'f: v

l's 'uch change in the exactjf orm of the embodithe 'art from'thezdetailed descripl Wereserve the right to make may be lnecessary to provide s's in" applying the principles deemed to lieawithin the scope ofiour will be better un- Ei'gQ lfsho'w 1a perspective view in elevation .but'canbeused to'cause "our invention? e iev n l. in the empodim H protective elhbodying the;principles of s-v 5a fragmentary sectional top 'view ive "formfqfv buffer for use lb fF i-li maticview. illustrating preferred such asflexible rock and wire mattresses or ar-; Ev

ticulated blocks yvhi ch act as a protective layer to prevent undermining.

Our improvements may be used in place of double fencing now in use, which requires a fill between the fences, and offers important advantages over such prior art forms, as sacked concrete walls, sheet pilin pile revetments, concrete or asphalt slope paving, tetrahedrous, jackstraws, double pile fencing, and othermeans well known in the current practice.

The objects of our invention thus include: projtecting arable lands, highways, bridge footings, and the like from the'scouring action of running water; causing the depositing of material carried in suspension to replace eroded banks or to 'fillin desired areas; controlling the direction of stream flow; confining a stream efiectively to a desired channel; preventing the shifting of stream beds from one location to another; reducing the expense of maintaining highways; re

ing action. As compared with a double row of fencing between which a fill of relatively large rock is. made, our single line fencing is equally effective, at an installation cost of only from pense has hitherto been prohibitive, as well as the reclamation ofmany areas which could not otherwise be justified economically.

The advantages and features of our invention will be more fully understood by inspecting the drawing, in Fig. 1 of which'we have shown a preferred form of our invention. A single row scour prevention fence, indicated generally as I, is

formed by fixinganumber of posts 2 in the ground 3. The posts 2 must be set into the ground for a substantial proportion of their length to provide adequate support for a plurality of cables 4 which are fixed thereon.

We have illustrated our posts 2 as being made of wood, but metal or concrete may be used as well, and in many cases it is desirable to, use sections of railroad rail. The cables 4 are fixed to the posts 2 by any suitable means. For examle, staples 5 may be employed when wooden posts are used. Each of cables 4 is doubled, or composed of two separate strands 6 whichare secured together at their point of attachment to posts 2, but are spread between adjacent posts ,fOithe inser-'- 1 tion of buffers 1. Buffers Pi have been illustrated I as of rectangular cross-section, with their longer cross-sectional dimension normal to the main line of the fence I. ever, be of any other shape which tends to inter-:-

viere with the smooth flow of a strearnand which will promote turbiner'ioeas, for example, triangular.'- M I l The buffersjneed not beset vert ically butcould be mounted. diagonally if desired; an'djoouldbe set with their longer cross-sectional dimension parallel to the fence line, or'atanyother' desired angle thereto. Staples-'5 have been shown to securethe-buffers to the cable strandsfi, although my equivalent mean -may be substitutedtherefor. The buffers I .are preferably setf'into' the' ground, so that they ar'e'in' p'fart, self supporting,

andinpart carrie'dbyfthe cab1es'4. f 5

Fig. 2 shows i'airagmentary section orience'of the type of Fig. 1 ,,'utilizing such triangularbnffers 9. Buffers 9' are preferably insertedjwlthl one of their sides HI racing upstream. The materialused for the buffers maybe wood, metalQbrush, canvas, or anything which will resist the pressure of -the stream flow. It is to be understoodthat the single rowbf posts may be either straighter inclined or staggered array. I

' We have found that asingle row scourpre- "'vention fence of the'types shown in F gs. I "alr'1d'2 will cause a sedimentarylfill to develop in the course of ayearor'two atfa distance "behin'dthe fence of several feet, gradually filling up'tofthe fence line as a solid bank; "jThefleng'th' oftime "required is dependent, of course, on the: stream "velocity, the size o'fflthe fence mesh1theamount v of material carried in suspension by the stream, "andsimilar iactors.

' The diagram of Figure '3 illustrates typioallocations in whichj'sc'our prevention jfencejs constructed according to the present invention may be employed'advantageously. Along scouf areas 50 and 5| fences according to the instant invention may be, 'utilized'both as protection. against further erosion and to promote replacement of the material already scoured out. These areas are typical of many in which further erosion might cause the loss of the approaches to bridge 52 or the washing out by stream 53 of a strip of highway 54. Substantial areas of arable land may be reclaimed by filling-in of areas such as those shown at '50 (and 51., At 55-, wherth'e stream hank paralleling highway section 56 which is in danger of being undercut and destroyed by stream 53, scour prevention fences of the types described herein may also be used with beneficial results, particularly if backfill material-is added immediately.

; Summarizing, we have developed a form of protection against erosion which is very advantageous economically, and: which is superior in causing sedimentary ,deposits, thus replacing previously I scoured out areas. Our invention is equally usebuffer members having 'agenerally polygonal bufie'r members having a generallyfrectangular 'fulin confining stream currents to desired channels, and thus preventing the shifting of stream beds. The costof our single row structure is so little compared with existing types that it is possi- "ble'to reclaimarable' lands and to insure protecotherwise seem prohibitive:

Whatweclaimisf v L'The combination in a stream control device of a single row of retaining posts and iiex'iblebuffer means between said retaining posts; said means including'ia plurality of v cable fixed betion of propertyin cases where expense would tween said posts and a plurality of upright'bufier members having a generally rectangular shape fixed to and betwensaidf-cables withtheir shorter cross-sectional dimensionfdispose'd parallel tothe directionoistreamfiow.f

2. The combinationin'a-streammontrol device of a single "row "of retaining posts and "flexible buffer means between said retaining posts, said buffer means including flexible securing means fixed between said posts anda plurality of'upright 'slrapefixed to and between s'aidflexible securing ineans'with their greatest width'approximately at a right'angle to the' line of said retalningposts.-

- TH MAs M. JOYCE. r nns'ronnr'rrn 

